I’m a few days fresh-back from Sayulita, MX (one of my current favourite places, ever) and I really want to share this experience with you. If you don’t know me well, my heart just belongs to the dogs. No matter where I go or what I’m doing if there’s a dog, you can bet I’m about to be it’s best friend. And Sayulita, my friends, is definitely a dog-town. They’re everywhere and they’re all accepted and loved and welcomed right into any restaurant, home or establishment. My kinda place.

I’ve made it a point to do some kind of animal-related volunteer work or local donation on almost any trip I go on. This time around instead of assisting in a clinic or cleaning kennels, I volunteered my services as a photographer. Makes sense, right?

I had the great joy of partnering up with Wet Noses Dog Rescue in Sayulita (& Punta De Mita) for an amazing program they offer. Any tourist or local can sign up to do a group dog walk with their shelter dogs. This offering is amazing because 1. The doggos need walkies, 2. Anyone who comes shares it on the socials and that gets more exposure for the shelter and the adoptable pups and 3. It takes a load off the amazing humans running the shelter. Unfortunately, there’s always dogs and animals in need and the people who run it sometimes work 24 hour days to keep up. This program gets the pups out for fun while they wait for their forever home. And O-MY-Gawd –do they ever have fun!

Just a few of the adoptable pups at Wet Noses! The little guy in the wheelchair is named Lego and he’s a little spitfire! I don’t know his story but I know he’s super confident and does not let that chair slow him down. In fact he’s the pace setter for the whole walk and he moves!

This was such a rewarding experience and one of the highlights of my trip. So much so that on my next set of retreats, this is definitely one for the itinerary!